Towers of the Black Gate

An occasional name for the pair of towers more usually called the Towers of the Teeth, above the Black Gate of the Morannon at the northwestern entrance to Mordor. These towers, named Narchost and Carchost, were originally built after the War of the Last Alliance by the Men of Gondor to guard the Black Gate that led into the land of Mordor.

As the power of Gondor waned and slowly withdrew from the lands east of Anduin, the Towers of the Black Gate were eventually abandoned. In the closing decades of the Third Age, Sauron returned to Mordor, and his servants were able to take control of the Towers.

With the destruction of the One Ring, the quaking of the earth caused the Morannon to fall. In the ruin of the Black Gate, the Towers that guarded it were also toppled, after having stood watch on the borders of Mordor for more than three thousand years.